Chapter 3464
January 15, 1658 in the Haihan calendar, Phuket.
The sky was overcast, and there seemed to be faint thunder in the distance. It seemed that a storm was brewing on the nearby sea.
However, such weather will not affect the special operations division's troop dispatch plan. The more than 2,000 vanguard troops who are about to go to Ceylon Island four thousand miles away have already assembled at the port early in the morning.
All kinds of equipment and materials have been loaded onto the ship a few days ago, and they are just waiting for the troops to board the ship and set off.
Qian Tiandun specially gave the entire island a half-day holiday for this purpose, so that everyone could come to the port together to see off the soldiers who were about to go on an expedition.
The special warfare division's expedition ceremony was very simple. There was no traditional part such as slaughtering animals to sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth. First, the leading general Gao Qiaonan gave a speech to express his determination to win. Then Qian Tiandun came forward to encourage the expedition troops and asked them to You must do your best to complete the mission and maintain the honor of the special operations division.
The members of the special operations division were certainly used to this and responded with a chorus of shouts. But for those immigrants who have just arrived in Phuket, this scene is truly spectacular.
Even though many of them have not even obtained Haihan nationality, they were infected by the atmosphere at the scene and couldn't help but cheer loudly, as if they truly felt honored.
Li Dechang, who witnessed the entire farewell ceremony at the scene, was also very excited at this time.
The last time he saw a similar scene was when he was sending off the Xingdao garrison at the port before his father sent him to study in Sanya when he was a boy. The scene at that time is still vivid in my mind, but a rough calculation shows that more than ten years have passed.
Although he is not that close to the special forces division, this is after all the most famous ace unit of the Haihan Kingdom and the strongest combat force that represents the strength of the Haihan Kingdom. Li Dechang also felt light on his face at this time, and he felt it sincerely. The pride of being a Haihan person.
As for the destination of the special operations division's expedition, Li Dechang actually learned the details at the practice banquet last night.
When Qian Tiandun announced the action plan to everyone at the banquet, Li Dechang was excited but also a little guilty, because as the chief intelligence officer of the Ministry of Security stationed in Phuket, he only learned the details of the plan on the eve of the troops' departure. Moreover, Qian Tiandun took the initiative to inform him, which was really a bit derelict in his duty.
But on second thought, since Qian Tiandun claimed that the operation had been informed of the Singdao side and received strong support from the Singdao authorities, he felt a little relieved, otherwise he would have hesitated to keep the secrets for the special warfare division. , or promptly notify his father of this information.
It was also at last night's banquet that Li Dechang learned that Qian Shaobao would also join the vanguard and be stationed on the remote island of Ceylon for a period of time.
Although he had not been dating Qian Shaobao for a long time, they had some personal friendships as they traveled all the way from Sanya to Phuket. Moreover, as the son of a big shot like Qian Tiandun, Qian Shaobao never put on airs in front of him. The two of them had similar opinions on many topics, which was a valuable connection for Li Dechang.
Li Dechang originally thought that his work in Phuket would be much smoother if he made Qian Shaobao as a friend, but he did not expect that this friendship would come to an end just as it began.
Seeing Qian Shaobao slowly walking up the gangway with a big bag on his back, Li Dechang couldn't help but feel a little envious. He went to overseas battlefields to make meritorious deeds. As expected, he would be promoted after the mission was over, but he could only continue to work in ordinary places. Staying in the small courtyard of Ji Dao, I don't know when I will get some decent credit. The work he was engaged in in Sanya was mainly to develop technical equipment. There were many factories in the nearby Tiandu Industrial Zone to assist him in his research. But when he arrived in Phuket, there were not even factories with processing technology, not to mention manual workshops. There were only a few rooms, and this environment also made it difficult for him to develop his personal strengths.
Taking advantage of the toast last night, Li Dechang had made an agreement with Qian Shaobao that after the special warfare division had established a foothold on Ceylon Island, he would find time to visit Qian Shaobao there.
Anyway, the nature of Li Dechang's work is such that he has every reason to travel overseas, and it is reasonable for him to visit friends on the island of Ceylon during his business trip.
But Qian Shaobao had no time to care about other people's opinions of him at this time. His current thoughts were all on the several sets of construction plans that he had been calculating over and over again in the past few days.
Although Qian Shaobao studied military engineering at the Army Academy in Sanya for more than a year, he lacked real practical experience. After completing his studies, he was assigned to join the First Army Division as a combat staff officer, and did not go to the corresponding engineering unit. .
If you can really apply the knowledge you have learned to actual engineering projects, this operation in Ceylon Island is Qian Shaobao's first business.
In order to join the vanguard, he bit the bullet and fought for this mission. However, due to his lack of experience, he was also worried that if something went wrong, he would betray his father's trust. Therefore, for the engineering calculation part that he was responsible for, he tried his best to perform the calculations, just to ensure that there were no mistakes.
But Qian Shaobao was not absolutely sure whether he could really achieve such a standard, and he still felt a little uneasy. Everything had to be tested in actual combat after going to the local area.
It was not until after boarding the ship that he stood on the side of the ship and looked at the excited crowd on the pier that he realized that he was not going to Ceylon Island to be a supervisor, but a member of the combat force.
Qian Shaobao gathered his thoughts and stood at attention, raising his hand in a military salute to the crowd on the shore.
He knew that no matter where others looked at this time, his father must be looking at him.
After crossing thousands of miles of sea frontier, I was able to meet my father here. However, it had only been half a month since the father and son were reunited, and now they were separated again. Qian Shaobao couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Fortunately, the distance between Ceylon and Phuket is only seven or eight days, which is much closer than before. After the situation in Ceylon stabilizes, Qian Shaobao can take advantage of his vacation to return to Phuket.
But before that, according to the arrangement of the battle plan, he had to stay in Ceylon for at least half a year before he could wait for his first vacation.
Watching the crowd on the pier gradually become blurry, Qian Shaobao's mood gradually calmed down. From now on, he has to focus on the next task.
The fleet heading to Ceylon consisted of eight warships, ten troop ships, and thirty cargo ships. There is also a fleet of four cargo ships that are completing cargo tasks at the Port of Banda Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra Island. They will then replenish supplies locally and then rendezvous with the fleet departing from Phuket in the waters of the Andaman Islands.